Ben

Meaning: Son of the right hand; or son of days
Origin: Variant of Benjamin (from Hebrew)

Boy's name · #843 in the US (2025) · Timeless

Popularity over time

Few names move less than Ben — on the books since 1880, #843 in 2025, and dependable in between. Roughly 85,000 boys share it. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Ben is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 25 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Ben ranks in other countries and regions.

#36 in Switzerland (2025) · #40 in Ireland (2025) · #52 in Austria (2025) · #144 in Sweden (2025) · #151 in N. Ireland (2025) · #160 in Scotland (2025) · #249 in Netherlands (2025) · #435 in New Zealand (2025) · #449 in Poland (2025) · #487 in England & Wales (2025) · #540 in France (2025) · #631 in Belgium (2025) and 1 more.

Famous Bens

Ben Affleck — American film actor, director and screenwriter (born 1972)
Ben Jonson — English playwright, poet, and actor (1572–1637)
Ben Kingsley — English actor (born 1943)
Ben Stiller — American actor and comedian (born 1965)
Ben Bernanke — American economist (born 1953)

In stories & tradition

Ben (Thing) — Fantastic Four (comics)
Ben Linus — Lost (TV series)
Ben Reilly — Marvel Comics

What Bens become

Among 5,262 notable people named Ben:

Sports figures appear 1.93× more often than among typical names — e.g. Ben Foster, English association football player (born 1983).

Similar names: Benny · Sam · Beck · Ira · Reuben · Dan

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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